LONDON — As Pringles go, it is surely the world’s most famous — and expensive.

The Olympic cycling velodrome, nicknamed “The Pringle” for its resemblance to the saddle-shaped potato chip, is the singular $140-million pringle, the chip that could deliver a slew of Olympic and world records here next week.

On Friday I took a sneak peak at the gleaming track wood — 56 kilometres of Siberian pine held in place by 300,000 nails! — as riders from Belgium, New Zealand and Columbia put in training laps. Track cycling competition runs from Aug. 2 through 7. Two of Canada’s big wheels, Tara Whitten and Zach Bell, were scheduled to arrive in London on Saturday from training in the Netherlands.

For Jolien D’hoore, one of Belgium’s top female riders training on Friday, the Velodrome was a sight for sore legs.

“My legs are sore from the trip but the track is so fast, so we’ll see,” said D’Hoore, after her second day of training here.

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“It’s only two hours on the train but …,” D’Hoore said, that’s long enough to tighten an athlete’s legs. She was dressed in pale blue team colours and politely stopped on her bike in the mixed zone to speak to a Canadian reporter.

“The facility is huge, the Olympic village, the track, everything is fantastic,” D’hoore said. “We had a World Cup event on it, so we already knew the track was fast.”

To the delight of track designer Ron Webb of Australia, several world records fell during that World Cup event in February. Webb, who also worked on the Olympic tracks of Athens and Sydney, consulted with British track star Sir Chris Hoy, a triple-gold medallist in Beijing, every step (every pedal?) of the way to produce a track that would wow the world.

One of the crown jewels of Olympic Park, the velodrome is the pride and joy of a cycling-mad nation. Even before the torch was lit on the 2012 Games, the velodrome was a gold-medal winner — having taken home the Architectural Award from the Design Museum’s awards announced earlier this year. The Olympic torch won an award at the same event, so the ’drome is in heady company.

Only in Britain would the velodrome be described thusly: the “hyperbolic paraboloid shaped steel structure sits on a 360-degree glanced concourse and is clad in timber with small apertures for ventilation.”

Created by the London firm Hopkins Architects, the velodrome was designed to be “lightweight and efficient … like a bicycle.”

It seats 6,000 people, and while the “natural ventilation” system is supposed to make modern climate control unnecessary, this witness can attest that the “Pringle” can be steamy hot, as it was on Friday. It will only get warmer when the venue is packed with spectators and media. The optimum temperature on race day is 28 degrees.

When the Olympic competition is over, the venue will be under the care of the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority, forming the heart of a new Velo Park, along with a BMX track and a mountain bike course to be used by community, club and elite riders.

A legacy to strong legs.

Olympic venues are famous for blowing deadlines, but the precious Pringle came in on time and on budget, completed nearly 18 months before the torch arrived at the stadium on Friday. It was the first of the Olympic Park facilities to be completed.

Riders love the quality of the wood, the feel of the track, the smell of the Western Cedar of the exterior. The early reviews have been strong.

Among his tricks to promote speed, Webb placed the finish line five metres farther up the track than normal and a longer run on the straightaway.

“The turns are really long so it’s a perfect track for pursuit, I think,” said D’Hoore, whose face alights at the mention of Whitten’s name.

“The big favourite,” she says, while also naming USA’s Sarah Hammer, Annette Edmundson of Australia and Laura Trott of Great Britain as the riders to beat next week.

Jasper DeBuyst hopes his men’s team from Belgium can finish as high as fifth behind the favoured Aussies, Brits, Russians and Kiwis.

DeBuyst concurs the track is quick. It might even be his favourite in the world, although he is partial to the oval in Moscow.

“Moscow is pretty special because it’s a 330-metre track,” DeBuyst says. London is a conventional 250 metres.

Why does speed matter so much?

“It’s always cool to ride a fast time, a national record, a world or Olympic record,” DeBuyst said. “I think we should wait for the [Olympic] competitions to see the times.”

For now, let’s just say the venue is on track to deliver WR and OR annotations.